String musical instrument.



1. BOHMANN.

STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

v APPLICATION FILED IuLY 27,1914.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916. /zy,

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JOSEPH BOHINIANN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STRING" MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

Application led July 27, 1914. Serial No. 853,389.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH BOHMANN, a citizen of the United Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to guitars and mandolins, although certain features thereof may be applicable to other similar instruments.

Among the objects of my invention are to improve the form and construction of instruments of this kind, in order to improve the tone and quality thereof, and also to make them more convenient for holding and playing; to provide the body with diverging bars; to form the body with a cut away portion for the hand that operates the finger board; to provide the body with convex top and back; and to provide such other advantages as will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a guitar embodying my invention; Figure 1 is a top or plan view; Fig. 2 is a side view with a portion shown in sec* tion, as indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

As shown in these drawings, the body 4 is formed with an enlarged end or main portion 5, with a reduced portion 6 adjacent to the sound hole 7, a second enlarged portion 8, and a reduced portion 9 where the neck 10 is attached. AThe grooves or recesses 11 in the opposite sides of the instrument at the reduced portion 6 are intended to fit over the leg or knee of the player, so as to assist in securely holding the instrument. The reduced end 9 of the body permits the player to more readily move the hand which operates on the finger board 12 farther toward the sound hole 7, or inner end of the linger board 12 than can be done with the old forms of guitars, in which the bodies terminate abruptly at the finger board end without such reduced portion. This will be readily seen from the position of the hand shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. Both the top 13 and back 14 are made con- Vex, that is, they are curved outwardly at the center, both longitudinally and transversely, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This increases the capacity of the body and States, residing at the sound hole 7 is located at approximately the highest point in the top.

While the tail piece 15 and bridge 16 may be made in any desired form,.I prefer to have them constructed in the manner Shown in my previous application for musical instrument, filed March 9, 1914, Serial No. 823,430, more particularly in order to Support the hand rest or guide 17, such as also shown in said application.

One of the principal features of this invention is the method of bracing or strengthening the top 13 so as to properly. support the bridge 16 without interfering with, but rather improving the vibrating and tone quality of the instrument. In order to do this, I provide two transverse ribs or bars 18 and 19, which extend across the top, as indicated in Fig. 1, and are properly curved to conform with the top, as indicated in Fig. 3. These ribs or bars diverge, as shown in Fig. 1, from a point approximately in line with the bridge at one side of the instrument, until they are at a considerable distance apart at the other side of the instrument. These ribs or bars are closer together at the end of the bridge where the E string or string of highest pitch is located than at the opposite end of the bridge where the bass or lower strings are located. The bridge is preferably positioned about midway between these diverging bars. By means of this arrangement, it will be readily seen that the portion of the top between the bars or ribs under the strings of high pitch will be shorter than the part under the strings of lower pitch. This arrangement is provided for improving the musical quality or tone of the instrument.

From the above description it will be seen that I provide a novel form of instrument which is so constructed as to be conveniently supported and operated by the player, and at the same time, an instrument having a body arranged so as to give a relatively large volume of tone, as well as an effective range, due to the particular method of supporting the top adjacent to the bridge.

Having thus described my invention, which however, I do not wish to limit to the exact form or arrangement shown, except as specied in the following claims, what I claim and desire to Secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. A guitar or the like having a transverse bar in front of the bridge, and a second bar at therear of the bridge, both of said bars extending entirely across the top of the guitar and diverging from one side tothe other.

2. In a guitar or the like, the combination With a top, of transverse ribs arranged on the inner side oi the top and extending substantially across the full Width thereof, one of said ribs being placed in front of the bridge and the other in the rear of the bridge, and diverging from each other, from the vside lhaving the strings of high pitch toward the side having the strings of low pitch.

3. A guitar or the like having a convex top and convex bottom, transverse diverging supporting .bars across the inner side ofthe top for supporting the top, said bars being arranged one in front and the other at the rear of the bridge, and diverging from each other from the Side having the Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the strings of high pitch toward the side having the strings of lovv pitch.

4. A guitar or the like, having supporting bars engaging With the inner side of the top and extending entirely across the saine, and diverging from each other from one side of the top to the other, and a bridge located between said diverging bars.

5. A guitar or the like having a body with sides which are Wider at the center of the instrument than at the endsthereof, and having a top and bottom, Vboth of which are outwardly convex, said top and bottom b e ing made of boards of substantially uniform thickness, and supporting .bars `for said tops and bottoms.

JOSEPH BOHMANN.

fitnesses E. V. GUSTAFSON, LEE J. PITNER.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0'. 

